Department for Work and Pensions

Social Security Benefits: Coronavirus

baroness lister of burtersett: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the increases to financial support as a result of COVID-19 will include (1) Income Support, (2) Job Seeker's Allowance, (3) Employment and Support Allowances, (4) ‘New Style’ Employment and Support Allowance, (5) child tax credits or (6) child benefits.

baroness stedman-scott: The COVID-19 emergency continues to be a rapidly evolving situation. The Government has announced measures that can be quickly and effectively operationalised and that benefit those facing the most severe financial disruption. DWP and HMRC are experiencing significant increased demand and the Government has to prioritise the safety and stability of the benefits system overall. Alongside the temporary increases to Universal Credit standard allowances and the basic element of working tax credits which came into force on 6 April and will remain in place for the tax year 2020/21 other announced measures include: Regulations have been made which mean Statutory Sick Pay will now be temporarily payable from day one of an employee’s absence from work, where that absence is related to Coronavirus.People unable to work for more than seven days because of coronavirus can obtain an isolation note through a new online service.We are temporarily relaxing the Minimum Income Floor for all self-employed Universal Credit claimants affected by the economic impact of COVID-19. This means a drop in earnings during the outbreak will see a claimant’s UC payment increase.We are providing more support for benefit claimants in the Private Rented Sector by increasing Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile, helping to alleviate affordability challenges.The additional earnings disregard in Housing Benefit has been increased from £17.10 a week to £37.10.People applying for or receiving benefits do not have to attend jobcentre appointments for three months, starting from Thursday 19 March 2020.All ESA claimants suffering from coronavirus or required to self-isolate in line with government guidance, including those in the shielded group, will:- be treated as having limited capability for work without the requirement for a fit note or undergoing a Work Capability Assessment; and,- subject to satisfying the normal conditions of entitlement, waiting days will be removed meaning that ESA will be payable from day one of their claimDisabled and sick claimants who cannot attend a reassessment for Personal Independence Payments, Employment and Support Allowance or Universal Credit will continue to receive their payments while their assessment is rearranged. We continue to keep the situation under review and if there are any further changes we will update Parliament accordingly.

Department of Health and Social Care

Coronavirus: Intensive Care

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Bethell on 16 March (HL2026), whether they will now answer the question put, namely, whether the current provision of specialised ventilation care will be capable of meeting the needs of those affected by an epidemic.

lord bethell: We have significantly increased our ventilator capacity. To date, there are more than 8,000 ventilators in hospitals across the United Kingdom, with thousands more expected to come into use in the coming weeks and months and, of course, we will continue to order more. This is alongside work being done on the Prime Minister’s ventilator challenge.Ventilators are being procured from existing worldwide stocks. Ventilators will be delivered to National Health Service trusts as soon as stock has arrived in the UK. In addition, ventilators will be available in the private hospitals that we have just contracted as additional capacity.It is not yet clear precisely how quickly the number of cases requiring ventilation will increase, hence the efforts to increase capacity rapidly. Ventilator demand modelling continues to evolve and at present sufficient capacity exists. The supply and demand of ventilators is under constant review.

Coronavirus

baroness hayter of kentish town: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to participate in any future meetings or discussions with EU health ministers about COVID-19.

lord bethell: COVID-19 is a global public health emergency. The United Kingdom is playing a leading role in the global response and we will continue to work closely with the G7, the World Health Organization, the European Union and other international partners at both Ministerial and official level.

Intensive Care: Ventilators

baroness ritchie of downpatrick: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many additional ventilators they plan to provide to each NHS Trust in England.

lord bethell: Work preparing the National Health Service has been ongoing and we have already nearly doubled ventilator capacity. New and existing suppliers are being asked to build as many as they can. The Prime Minister has issued a call to United Kingdom industry to produce additional ventilators and the Department asked appropriate potential manufacturers on 13 March to come forward with proposals for new ventilation machines. Around a dozen potential prototypes have now been presented to the Department which we are currently pursuing.We will allocate these ventilators accordingly to each NHS trust based on clinical need.

Immigrants: Health Services

the lord bishop of durham: To ask Her Majesty's Government whatevidence was used to inform the increase in the immigration health surcharge, announced in the 2020 Budget.

lord bethell: The Department looked at actual data on surcharge-payers’ use of the National Health Service between April 2015 and September 2019 and their length of stay in the United Kingdom. This estimated the total costs to the NHS of treating the average surcharge-payer to be around £624 per person per annum.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

lord lilley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what urgent steps they aretaking to (1) create capacity to manufacture vaccines in the UK, and (2) ensure that COVID-19 vaccines are made available immediately once they are developed.

lord bethell: The development of a COVID-19 vaccine is at the early stages but progressing rapidly. The Government is working to ensure the United Kingdom has the manufacturing capability to produce these vaccines at the levels the UK needs. To do this, a new cross-Government vaccines taskforce has been set up, reporting to the Secretaries of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and Health and Social Care as well as Sir Patrick Vallance. It brings together Government, industry, academics, funding agencies and other partners to make rapid decisions in order to accelerate vaccine development in the UK.

Coronavirus: Pharmacy

lord mawson: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure the general public are aware of the role of pharmacies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

lord bethell: The role of community pharmacy has been highlighted in a range of Government communications, including the recent announcement and letters to vulnerable patients, which highlighted their role in the delivery of medicines to people who have been asked to self-isolate.Callers to NHS 111 are advised to telephone if they require health advice from pharmacies and NHS England and NHS Improvement are working to ensure all pharmacies have a range of additional resources to increase public awareness and support the safety of pharmacy staff and the public. Posters and pop-up display banners, in line with the national COVID-19 communications, are being developed for distribution.

Coronavirus: Screening

baroness ritchie of downpatrick: To ask Her Majesty's Government whenthey plan to introduce universal testing of all UK citizens for COVID-19.

lord bethell: Testing is a crucial part of the United Kingdom’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Government is working on multiple fronts to deliver additional testing capacity. On 4 April 2020, the Government published its testing strategy Coronavirus (COVID-19) Scaling up our testing programmes. That strategy describes in detail the five pillars of work which together will put in place the testing that is mission critical as we fight the battle against COVID-19. A copy of the strategy is attached.



COVID19 Scaling up our testing programmes
(PDF Document, 400.31 KB)

Pharmacy: Compensation

lord kennedy of southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any claim for compensation from a pharmacist that is not in relation to COVID-19 will be covered by membership of the Pharmacists’ Defence Association or other indemnity schemes.

lord bethell: Community pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are regulated healthcare professionals and must ensure they have adequate indemnity insurance cover, either personally or through their employer.Clinical pharmacists employed in National Health Service trusts are covered by the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts. Clinical pharmacists employed in general practitioner practices providing NHS services (either primary medical services under a Part 4 contract or other NHS services provided by the practice) are covered by the Clinical Negligence Scheme for General Practice.